Snapshots of austerity cyprus-mail/2013/07/07/snapshots-of-austerity/ By Poly Pantelides An ongoing British-based theatre project aims to capture how Europe’s long-running recession has affected its citizens, from hope to despair to first-person accounts of a turning point. And Cypriots are welcome to contribute. British director Esther Richardson has been gathering these stories, urging people to contribute anonymously – so that they can give uncensored accounts – by offering testimonies on how they have been impacted by austerity in the post-2010 Europe. The project, dubbed All Across Europe, is still acquiring shape and form subject to the kind of contributions available to Richardson. She says on her blog allacrosseurope.wordpress she aims to develop a theatre piece over the following months for a performance by professional artists for the Nottingham European Arts and Theatre festival due in the summer of 2014. The project is looking for specific, detailed contributions with background context so the experiences can make sense to others with different circumstances, perhaps a “central observation” or a story of hope of change. Richardson says it would be “fantastic” to hear from people who were either part of anti-austerity protests, have felt unable to take action, have been changed in some way, or might be able to offer “a story of hope”. The work “will try to capture the sweep of our experience of this unique era of European depression, presenting its intimate, untold and little known stories,” Richardson says on her blog. Beyond the individual stories, Richardson wants the project “to chronicle and express [the depression’s] wider impact on our human interactions and relationships”. That is a substantial task, but All Across Europe’s feed on social media site twitter already bears the hallmark of a project capable of assembling personal stories and it attracted the attention of Zoe Piponides, a Cyprus-based teacher who was motivated by the project to seek out Richardson and offer her own contribution, based on her own “conversations and observations”. Piponides joined a weekly writing workshop last year and when depositors were told in March their Cyprus deposits would be raided, she was encouraged to write about it. “The more stories I heard, the more disturbed I became,” she says. Finding out about the call for austerity stories, Piponides was inspired by Richardson’s “wish to listen to ordinary voices, inviting people to speak without reservation”. Piponides’ stories, short accounts of her understanding of how different people have been impacted in Cyprus, ring true of the situation as it has been unfolding on the indebted island. She transmits different people’s anxiety, and concern, as they are forced to cut back on expenses and incur losses on their deposits. Extracts from Zoe Piponides’ contribution: THE TEACHER HOUSEWIFE Teacher Housewife’s salary will be lopped again any month soon, setting a ‘fine’ example to the rest of the community. Already, she’s marginalised the way she shops, listing only necessities unless there happens to be a special offer. She’s decided she doesn’t need new clothes, rarely goes out for meals and thinks twice before doing anything near the end of the month when she owes her debit card 1000 euros. Cypriots are known for being big spenders on gatherings. Now, she sees more and more shoppers fingering soggy tomatoes and bruised bargain bag apples, trolleys half the size they were 20 years ago. Cosmetics and clothes from the biggies like M&S and Next are still higher in price in the sales compared to UK original pricing; a tea bag dunked in hot water costs 3.50 at a central café, 4 euros if it’s by the sea, while a bank holiday trendy beach frappe coffee can reach a staggering 6.50 euros. Just who do the middlemen think they are? Each time Teacher fills the petrol tank, she acknowledges that she is one of the lucky ones as others buy petrol in 10 euro doses. More crew cut scenarios mean she will spend even less than she is doing now as she tries to save for promised harder times ahead. The hairdresser, the beautician, the department store and even the dentist will just have to wait. She feels lucky to be a permanent employee. No one will dare to kick her butt for a more cost-effective replacement. After all, is she not protected by Mr Civil and oh so Right? Till now, permanency has meant immunity, but who is she kidding? THE STUDENTS School gathers young people from surrounding villages. Each year Teacher conducts a survey to assess family employment. Each year, the numbers decline with an all-time low this last year. In one class of 15 teenagers, only three fathers are employed. Finding five euros to pay for a school trip is impossible for some families. Some students pretend they’re not hungry or are dieting because there’s no sandwich in their bag and no money to buy one. Yes, they’re given coupons now. How must if feel to queue, clutching a coupon for a snack or a bag of free pasta? It’s far less embarrassing to go without. Student One worries about his father’s faulty tractor. He can’t focus on the lesson, knowing there isn’t enough cash to cover major repair and that without the tractor the family farm is at a standstill. Student Two’s estranged father is jobless, her mother in hospital, terminally ill, while she goes home to an empty house every day. Chocolate is a luxury for her. She’s ready to work but where are the jobs? THE ARTIST Austerity lies like a brick in Artist’s guts because he knows what Cypriot politicians are capable of and how incapable they can be. He is furious with the government, past and present. He has no faith in Cypriot politics. He avoids reading newspapers because they ulcerate his soul. He understands the futility of elections, the ugly reality of nepotism and how who you know counts all too often. He depends on tourists and locals with a bit of extra cash in their pockets. Austerity measures all across Europe mean fewer tourists and those who do come to Cyprus have little to spare for decorative art, even if ancient dual headed symbols of unity are interesting motifs on modern sculptures. More and more people are ‘just looking’ and Artist’s current account credit took an exit a long time ago. THE EXPAT The worst? Cyprus is the only country in the world to finance its crisis using private deposits. Australian Expat immigrated to Cyprus and placed a million dollars in a ‘popular’ (the people’s!) Cypriot bank; his life’s savings dismantled overnight, left with a mere tenth of his earnings. Anglo-Cypriot froths when he mentions 70 per cent of seized deposits are from UK based ‘investors’. The Londoners he knows are livid and will never again think of resettling. They feel used and betrayed, he says. ‘Charlie’ Cypriots, with their own hesitant off-limits dialect, are ever a source of ridicule on the island, and now a source of political ridicule. What could be worse from one’s mother country? THE LOCAL PENSIONER Local Pensioner was always half deaf and is now half paralysed after suffering a stroke, unable to speak, so her sons have little idea how much she understands. She used to sell handmade toys and saved for her later years because she knew the grim reality of state retirement homes. Her bed in a private nursing home costs over 900 euros a month; speech therapy is available at an extra cost. Who dares tell her about the latest rumours on the grapevine – a 30-50 per cent cut in cooperative bank deposits? Her sons are wondering if what is left will be enough to help her live a little comfortably the final years of her life. Submissions are anonymous. Richardson says that only she is the only one with access to the email account set up especially for contributions and will not reveal names and identities to other parties. But authors may also license their work using creative commons though the works will be presented anonymously within the theatre project itself. If the project proves profit making, proceeds will be distributed to European cultural and charitable projects, Richardson said. Testimonies in English are preferred, but not necessary. Send your accounts at all.across.europe@gmail and get in touch with Zoe Piponides at [email protected]
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 13:23:09 +0000
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